Valixir all the rage for Marois
The Cork-based firm took a bet of £2,000 from one of their noted ante-post customers on the Andre Fabre-trained colt for the Deauville Group One on August 14.
The Queen Anne Stakes winner, who also scored at Maisons-Laffitte recently, is set to clash with unbeaten French sensation Divine Proportions, who was accordingly eased to 4-6.
Coral also saw good money for Valixir and cut him to 3-1 from 7-2 and attribute the interest to the bullish words from his jockey in yesterday’s papers.
“Christophe Soumillon has made no secret of his confidence in this horse and punters have been quick to latch on to this,” said the firm’s spokesman David Stevens.
Divine Proportions is hardly in need of any backhanded complements and is fully capable of promoting her own ability - as she showed at the Normandy track on Sunday when extending her unbeaten run to nine in the Prix d’Astarte.
But 48 hours after that warm-up, she received a boost after a filly who finished well behind her in the French Oaks came out to win the Prix de Psyche at the course yesterday.
In lifting the 10-furlong Grop Three, Satwa Queen became the first beaten Prix de Diane contender to come out and win.
Jean De Roualle’s charge, beaten eight lengths into seventh by Europe’s leading lady in the Chantilly Classic, scrambled home by a neck from Soumillon on Viane Rose.
However, the Belgian rider earlier took the Listed Prix Ridgeway on Fabre’s colt Runaway.
The next big-race action at Deauville comes on Sunday when the sprinters take centre stage in the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest, won by Tim Easterby’s Somnus 12 months ago.
Meanwhile several Emirates Melbourne Cup hopefuls, including Distinction, Phoenix Reach and Yeats, are among a strong British and Irish entry for the two build-up races to the Flemington spectacular in November.
There are 14 British possibles, plus five from Aidan O’Brien’s stable, in the Carlton Draught Caulfield Cup over a mile and a half in October.
Among the entries for the Carlton Draught Cox Plate the same month are five from Britain and five from Ireland.
Saeed bin Suroor has put all of Godolphin’s six Melbourne Cup entries - Andean, Cherry Mix, Fantastic Love, Fight Your Corner, Razkalla and Songlark - in the Caulfield Cup at the Melbourne track.
Sir Michael Stoute has made three entries - Distinction, Maraahel and Notable Guest - while David Elsworth is considering the race for Norse Dancer.
Mark Johnston’s Bandari, Brian Ellison’s Carte Diamond and Alan Swinbank’s Collier Hill complete the British entry. O’Brien can choose from Ace, Mullins Bay, Powerscourt, Solskjaer and Yeats.
Bin Suroor is not represented in the Cox Plate over an extended 10 furlongs at Moonee Valley, with 16 foreign entries the lowest for four years.
However, the list includes Bandari, the Brian Meehan-trained Fong’s Thong, Maraahel, Norse Dancer and Phoenix Reach from Andrew Balding’s stable.
Ace, Mullins Bay and Powerscourt are O’Brien’s team.
